Guardians from the Other World: Book 2 to Book 6
by fan-like-irving
Summary: A boy was brought into the world of the Guardians to fulfill a prophecy left by Hoole. Follow him on his journey as he experienced the ups and downs of his mission while suffering from the terrible nightmares his past had left him. Read on to find out more. Enjoy. No flames please and constructive reviews are always welcomed.
1. Prolouge

**Prolouge:**

_Uhh...what happened?_ Waking up, I touched my head which was still in a daze, dizzy from the torture that I had endured a few minutes ago. I tried to sit up when I found out that I couldn't for some reason. Not just that, the room seemed to be hotter than a few seconds ago. Also, the roaring noise around me was unbearable.

I rolled over to push myself up with my hands, but when I first look at them, they seemed to be furry and had those brown things on them with white dots. Taking a closer look, I stepped back in shock. They were feathers! What's worse was that where my arms were, there were wings._ Oh no, no no no no!_ I looked at my feet but instead, there were claws and talons there.

Just then, the room started to become unbearably hot, and caught fire. Panicked, I ran out of the room as fast as my new clawed feet could carry me...until the edge of a very short branch. "Ahhh!" I cried as I stopped myself at the edge of the branch. Turning around, I realized that the 'room' I was in was a hollow in a tree which was on fire. "Help! Help!"I screeched as loud as I could. The ground was all covered in flames and the smoke was rising up. I tried not to breathe in the smoke, but it was too late. The fire had already begun to engulf the hollow I was in and soon the branch as well. The smoke was suffocating me, draining my strength as I tried to hold on and swatting the smoke away, shouting for help as loud as I could.

It was a futile effort. As the last of my strength fade away, I was about to fall onto the burning land below when I was lifted by my wings away from the tree. Looking back, it was beginning to fall over, covered in flames. One of my saviours, the one with a missing talon in one of his claws spoke to me, "Just in time too, eh." Looking back up, I saw an owl with one of his eye in a permanent squint before hanging my head faintly. As if in the distance, I heard the strange owl talking to another, saying "We'd better take him back to the Great Tree. He needs medical attention immediately". That was all I heard before darkness enveloped me.

Yet, just before that, in all of the confusion and events that had happened in just mere minutes, I realized two things. One, for some strange and bizarre reason, I was transformed into an owl in burning tree in the middle of a forest fire in the middle of a land that I know it was breathtaking for me to know that it existed. Second, the owl who had talked to me, the one with a missing talon and a squinty eye, was Ezylryb.

* * *

**A/N:**

Yup, a new chapter for a new story. Enjoy


	2. Chapter 1: The Prophecy

**Chapter 1: The Prophecy**

_It felt as if I was sleeping for a long time, but when I woke up, I was in a mist-filled place. "Where am I?" I wondered. _

_"Follow me..."_

_Spinning around, I turned towards the direction where the voice came from. There, in the mist, a silhouette of an owl began to form. "Who is there?" I asked._

_"Follow me..." The owl began to turn and walk away._

_"Wait up, who are you and where are you taking me?" I chased after him, but the more I tried, the more he seemed to be further away._

_"Follow me..."_

_"Hey, wait up! Please, wait up!"_

* * *

"Wait up!" The words came out so loud that the owl in the hollow jumped in shock. I shook my head, clearing the fog of drowsiness as I woke up. As I stood up, I remembered what happened before I fainted, when I was saved by two owls from certain death in a forest fire.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked the owl. The owl replied, "Oh, don't worry, dear, you are safe. My name's Matron and you are in the infirmary of the Great Tree."

"Great Tree? You mean where all the Guardians are? And what time is it?" I asked, amazed. "Why, yes of course. You have been sleeping for the whole day and right now it's almost time for tweener."

_Tweener?_ I had read of it before, that means it's time for dinner, right? Just then, I heard a voice singing a song, something about day is done. And it was beautiful. "The Evensong. Even though I've heard it for a long time, I will still never get tired of hearing it," Matron said. "Come along, I'll bring you to the Great Hollow."

I wanted to follow the owl, but then something strange happened. I felt an urge to go somewhere, to do something of utmost importance. I didn't know what it was, but it's constantly tugging the back of my mind. I informed Matron that I wasn't that hungry and asked for permission to explore the Tree.

"Well, ain't you the curious type? Very well, but if you want to go to the dining hall, just approach any owl and they will take you there." Matron replied, then shook her head. "How rude of me, I introduced the Great Tree and yet I didn't know much about you. What's your name?"

"Erm..." I strove to think of a name, any name but my own. "Matthias, yes, my name is Matthias." I replied quickly. "Seeing that you are still a young Boreal, do you know how to branch yet? And where are your parents?"

At the mention of my parents, I began to shake. But I continued to answer her questions. "No, I haven't began branching. And as for my parents, I...I don't know where they are." Matron was confused, how could I not know where they are. Before she opened her beak to ask that question, I answered her. "I was..._snatched_." Tears welled my eyes as I remembered my last few moments with my family.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." Matron quickly replied. "It's alright, I got over it already." I reassured her.

Matron nodded and left. Immediately, I began to follow wherever the strange urge wanted me to go, and it seemed that it didn't want me to be noticed by other owls as well. One instance was when I walked past a group of owls that seemed familiar in some way. I turned around and saw the group was made of a Barn Owl, an Elf Owl, a Burrowing Owl and a Great Grey. _It's the Band! _I silently screamed. I wanted to meet them, but the urge was pulling me back. The more I tried to walk towards the would-be-heroes, the stronger the urge, my mind began to become fuzzy and my vision blurry, my chest became heavy and my breath was labored. I shook my head to clear it and when I did, the Band was already gone, unaware of the commotion. Sighing in resignation, I resumed my journey.

The urge took me into a hollow at the top of the Tree. There were books, charts and many other strange things inside this hollow, for purposes I didn't know. Suddenly, I saw a shadow in my peripheral vision. Turning towards it, I saw an owl, as if made of mist, looked at me and walked into the hollow adjacent to this one. Peeking into it, I could tell that this was a hollow for sleeping. There was a bed filled with down, moss and other unrecognizable stuff and a small table next to it, stacked with books. The misty owl was at a small perch hanging by the wall. I walked over to him and he seemed to walk into the walk into the tree. I knew that my weight would snap the perch immediately, so why would he led me here.

Gingerly, I placed one of my foot on it and it immediately fell off the wall. "Well, that was stupid." I muttered. However, I noticed a piece of string in the hole where the perch was supposed to be. "This seemed familiar. Why does this seems familiar?" I wondered as I carefully pulled the string out and tugged it. Then, I heard a creak and a hidden door swung open. My eyes widened at the recognition of this hollow; it was Ezylryb's. _Of course it was his; those gizmos outside were for his weather-interpretation experiments! How could I be so stupid! _I laughed as I entered the hidden chamber. _But then what would happen if he or Octavia entered the hollow and saw me snooping around?_ I shuddered at the thought and quickly reassured myself that he would still be at tweener, or even at the Parliament Hollow to address the Band for coming to the Tree.

I followed the passage to a small room where I saw his old battle claws surrounded by books. The misty owl was there, by one of the book stacks. As soon as he laid eyes on me, he seemed to smile before disappearing. Curious, I walked over to the stack and the first book to greet me was the last book of the trilogy. It was covered in dust and wrinkled with age. This book, _To Be A King,_ which depicted the final battle between the newly- formed Guardians and the hagsfiends, had last for almost a thousand years and was written by King Hoole himself and I was seeing it right in front of me. No words could explain what I was feeling at that moment.

Just then, I couldn't explain why, but I was compelled to turn to the last page of the book. There, his final words telling of a Barn Owl, who was destined to retrieve the Ember from the Scared Rings. Yet at the back of my mind, something told me that this was not all. There was more, but what? As I stared at the last words, something caught my eye. A message at the bottom of the page, almost invisible, hidden for the right owl to read it. Scanning the chamber, I snatched a coal and a piece of parchment. Placing the parchment on top of the last page, I quickly used the coal to shade on it. Just as I predicted, the message was beginning to reveal itself.

When I finished my task, I began reading it, mystified.

_But yet in the ember, I saw an Other._

_An Other who has a noble heart and a generous gizzard._

_Snatched from his home for a mad beast's desire,_

_To go through endless pain and sorrow for the mad beast's delight._

_From the pain and suffering that he had received,_

_A desire to protect others he had gained._

_Tortured beyond reason and changed beyond measure,_

_The seeds of loneliness and sorrow grew._

_But a duty he must fulfill, a mission only he can complete._

_For he already knew the tale, from the beginning to the end._

_His journey starts here, both himself and the world._

_For what that is written, must never be changed._

"But what does it mean?" I asked no one in particular. "And why was I meant to see this?" _"It meant you were brought here for this very reason."_ The voice spoke out, but not out loud, as if it sounded in my head. I quickly turned around and saw two owls, as if they were made of mist. However, as I turned, it felt as if I was...leaving my body.

_"What do you mean? Who are you?"_ I asked. The two owls stepped forward, a Spotted and a Boreal. "_I am Hoole, the first embered king of Ga'Hoole,_ the Spotted replied,_ "and you were brought here for a mission only you can do."_

_"But what mission are you talking about? And how was I brought here?" "I brought you here."_ The Boreal spoke. I peered at him closely, trying to see past the mist when I remembered._ "It was you, wasn't it? You were the one who slammed me in the chest before I fainted!"_

_"I was. My name is Grimble, and I was tasked by King Hoole to bring you here and help you in your quest." "But what is this quest you are talking about? And why do you say that this is my quest?"_ I asked, scared of their answers.

_"As the prophecy states, you are to make sure whatever that was written in the tales must never be changed. You are to protect those who must not die until it is their time and observe that the events must take place just as they are supposed to. For this is your mission, this is your duty."_ Hoole stated.

_"But why me, Hoole, why me? There could be others who are more worthy than me, but why did you still chose me?"_

_"Because it was you I saw in the Ember,"_ Hoole began. _"__It was you who knew this tale from the time Soren was born till the time he was made king. It was you who was snatched from your family and was tortured and disfigured for the wishes of an evil Other. Yet, it was you who protected others who were snatched and tortured just like you and led the escape from your imprisonment. And it was you whose heart had became noble and strong even though they tried to break you after you were recaptured. You have done more than you realized, Martin._

_"It is because of these I chose you among others. You have a strong and noble heart, Martin, that is why I can trust you to finish this quest. And I know you can do it"_ I looked away, wishing that he hadn't said what happened back there. It was a painful memory, full of pain, sorrow and darkness.

_"So I must ask you,"_ I snapped out of my thoughts,_"will you accept your mission?"_

_"I...I,"_ I stepped back, worry and grief written all over me._ "I don't know. I just want to go back to my family. I can't do this, please, just let me go."_

_"It's not a choice, Martin, but a commitment." _It was then I knew, no matter what happened, I would still have to do it, forced if I resist. Clenching one of my claws, my whole body shaking with grief at the prospect of never seeing my family again, I replied _"Alright, I will accept my mission."_

Hoole nodded his head, his face full of regret, forcing an owl to take upon a heavy task, yet he must do this, for the Guardians and the rest of the Southern Kingdom. Then, he said, _"There will be times when you will reject everything to do what is necessary, even if it means changing the story. And you'll be tempted to reveal everything." _Suddenly, chains began wrapping around my body, but loose enough to allow movement. Scared, I looked at him, stepping back. _"This will make sure that they will never happen."_ Grimble immediately walked over to pick up the other end of the chains._ "You are too ordered to obey the king, because from now on, he is your king as well." _Hoole looked at me, shame and deep regret in the eyes of his. _"I'm sorry," _were his last words before the two owls and the chains disappeared and I returned to my body.

Head drooping in sorrow, I returned to the infirmary to wait for tomorrow night to come to began my training.

* * *

**A/N:**

Well, here it is, Chapter 1 of the GftOW. I admit that it's a bit long and draggy, but ...sigh, i have no excuses. Sorry it took so long. I mean, I wanted to post this on Monday, but I have no choice but to drag it, and I hate dragging my stories.

Oh, those who noticed there was something more to Matthias' past, then YOU ARE RIGHT! I _will_ write it someday, but you'll just have to be patient.

**Review Reply**

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Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 2: First Flight

**Chapter 2: First Flight**

It was a beautiful night. Clear of clouds and full of starry diamonds, with a slight breeze blowing across the sea of Hoolemere. Rare was such a night like this, especially in the Other world. Tonight was my first lesson in branching since I didn't know one bit about flying. There were many other owlets beside me who were of age to start branching. Boron, the current monarch of the Tree was leading the class, or chaw as the owls of the Tree called.

"Owlets, as you know, this is your first time branching," Boron began. "Now, all you need to do is to extend your wings and glide towards any branch in sight." He then demonstrated the process before flying back here. "Now it's your turn. Form a line and began branching!" He ordered.

The owlets began to form a line and the first one stepped onto the launching branch and hopped off, extended his wings and gracefully glided down to a branch below. "Excellent!" Boron commented before asking the next owlet to be ready. Soon, most of the owlets before me had succeeded in branching, though some of them flapped their wings a little. Right now, it would be the Snowy owl right in front of me who would began his turn to branch. He stepped onto the launching branch, ready to began his turn. When he was ready, he jumped off the branch and extended his wings and began gliding towards a branch.

Suddenly, the breeze grew exponentially and became a gale. In an instant I knew what would happen and quickly shouted "Kid, come back!" But it was too late. The Snowy who had just launch himself from the branch was now falling because of the gale. In panic, he tried to flap his wings yet it was of no use. Helpless before the gale, he plunged towards the ground.

Yet, just as the events were happening, time suddenly seemed to slow down. Before I knew what happened, I was already running (if owls can run) towards the launching branch when I was shouting. Boron realized what I was about to do and shouted "No, DON'T...'' But I wasn't listening by then, my mind blank from the desire to save the falling owl. Then, I jumped from the branch, gave a strong flap with my wings and dived towards the Snowy. "Come on, _come on!_" The thought raged in my head, willing me to go faster. I locked on to my target, which was the only way to pick him up...

There! When I was close enough, I gave another powerful flap for a boost. Immediately, I cried "Eulalia!" and caught the claws of the Snowy. On instinct, I tried to fly back up but the gale was too strong. The Snowy was also too heavy for a Boreal like me to carry, so I was dragged down with him.

Thinking quickly, I knew there were no other choice. Extending my wings, I tilted myself with a grunt so that I could 'ride' along the wind. However, because of the Snowy, I was still being dragged down. Struggling to keep afloat, I turned towards the island before the effort was too great and fell. Four feet from the ground and falling, I dropped the Snowy on his back while I crash-landed and did a barrel-roll. "Uugh!" I muttered in pain before getting up and walked towards the Snowy, who was also getting up as well.

"Are you all right?" I asked the Snowy. The Snowy nodded when a loud voice shouted "Stay right there!" We turned around and saw Boron, Barran his mate and several other owls accompanying them. Both the King and Queen walked over to us, the Queen was slightly angry but definitely amazed. But Boron was furious. "Did you have any idea what you'd done?!" Boron shouted.

I already knew why Boron was mad; in fact I expected it ever since I came to my senses in midair and saved the Snowy. And I agreed with him, so when he stood in front of me, I would already accept my punishment. "Do you know what you'd done?" Boron asked.

"I do, sir." Was my reply. Boron then straightened himself further "And still you did it! For that, you must be punished!" He declared sternly. I bowed my head, ready to accept any punishment, when suddenly, a voice spoke up. "No! You can't do this!"

I looked up and saw the Snowy owlet in front of me, and seemed to grown twice his size. "He'd nothing wrong to deserve this. Why are you punishing him?!" The Snowy asked, anger was written on him.

"Enough!" I walked in front of the owlet and faced him. "Do not do this for me, please. This is what I deserve." I calmly said. Immediately, everyone was shocked, especially the Snowy owlet.

"But _why_?!" He spluttered. "You _saved_ me, but why do you want to be punished?"

"It is precisely for that reason why I must be punished." Seeing the Snowy's confused face, I sighed. "Look at me," I said. "I am nothing more than an owlet. Not only that, I had never branched before, much less flying."

"But you still saved me, isn't that..." The owlet said. "You still don't get it, do you?" I interrupted. "Listen, I am a Boreal, so we are naturally small. But you are a Snowy, even if you are an owlet, you are still bigger than me.

"What would happen if I fail? What would happen if I went yeep in midair? What would happen if I hadn't caught you in time or worse? Don't you see, by doing that, I'm endangering both our lives. Don't you see that by trying to saving you, I was forcing Boron to make a choice, to save one of us and risk losing the other."

The owlet stood still, shocked at the prospect of death. "What would happen then?" I continued. "An owlet killed, just because I made a foolish decision. I could never accept that. How could I be so stupid to do such a thing."

Pausing for a while to see if any of that went into his head, I asked. "Do you know why the King was leading the class?" Turning slightly so that I could face Boron as well, I stated. "It was because he was one of the biggest and oldest owls in the Great Tree. Not only that, he was also one of the wisest and a very experienced flier. If he was the one who saved you, he would not have made any of the mistakes I'd made. Compared to him, who am I," Here I faced the owlet, pointing to myself. "A owlet who was smaller and weaker than him and had never flown once in my entire life, had any rights to save you.

"I may be wrong, but you may have seen that as brave and heroic. But to me, it was foolish. No, more than that! It was stupid and reckless! And I'm guilty, guilty for almost having you killed. And for these reasons I have to be punished." However, the owlet interrupted me this time. "Then why? Why did you save me?

I hesitated, not knowing how or what to answer. "Truthfully, I do not know." I replied. Sighing, I stared at the ground, hoping to find inspiration there. "But when I saw you plunge, there was...a burning feeling in my gizzard. Next thing I knew is that my body was moving ahead of my brain, like _it_ wanted to save you. I...just cannot explain it.

"For these reasons, will you step down, for me?" Finishing my explanation, I awaited his decision. The Snowy owlet nodded sadly and stepped back. Knowing what I had to do, I turned to face Boron and bowed. "My King, I await my punishment."

If Boron's face was full of surprise, then his expression now would mean he was truly at a loss of words. Both Boron and Barran looked at each other, surprised to see such maturity in a very young owl.

Finally, Boron broke the silence. Finding the right words, he said, "You are right in every word you'd said, Matthias, but I may have gone a bit too far. I had never thought you would defend us, even though we would have punished you. You even knew our reasons for scolding you and stated reasons that we would not have known. Because of this, you have my apology." Here he bowed, then eyed at me cheekily. "I think it's also right to put you into power-flight school now, since you'd already knew how to fly."I stared at him, not comprehending.

Barran took over, grinning. "When we were coming down, we saw you swooped down and caught him by his claws, then gliding with the gale. Such skill was rarely seen in owls, much less in an owlet who had just begun branching." I turned my head away, wishing I could stop the blush that was spreading across my face. The other owls and the owlet saw this and started laughing.

Then, Boron immediately headed back to the hollow with the other owlets to resume the lesson, now that the gale is over and Barran flew back to resume her own chaw. I looked at the horizon, reflecting on what had happened today as the other owls picked us up and took us to the Infirmary to check for injuries.

* * *

**A/N**

Finally, next chapter done. Exams are over and the holidays starts today! China, here I come. Hope you like the chapter.

*chaw- class/lesson

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 3: A month later

**Chapter 3: A month later...**

It's been a month since I came here. Yes, a month. Right now, I was in the dining hollow, waiting for tweener to come and hear the Evensong. Yet while I was waiting, my mind began to wander.

Yes, a month seemed to be a long time, long enough to know many things. One of them was that I knew my way around. I mean, who wouldn't after being stuck here for a month already.

Another was flying. You see, the night after the time I saved the owlet, I was immediately sent to power-flight school. Expectedly, I met Digger there since his flying skills were not so good when he first came to the Great Tree. I wanted to meet him in person but...let's say I wasn't supposed to. Anyway, since then, my flying skills had improved greatly and my wings were stronger. Not only that, sometimes in the day, I took to the skies for a while, you know, for fun. You could really never get tired of this; the wind sweeping across your back, the sense of achievement that you had attained one of the simplest pleasures in life, the over-whelming sense of freedom flying was usually referred to...

_Freedom_, that word bounced around in the walls of my mind. When you think about it, I was never truly free. It's been a month since I became an owl and considering the period of time which I had spent in that horrible place, it's been about three and a half months since I last saw my family. Every time before I went to sleep, I would look out of my hollow and into the sea, wondering if they missed me of if I'd ever see them again...

_Enough looking into the past_, I told myself as I shook my head back to reality. From the other side of the hollow, I heard Matron spoke, "Line up! Line up! Now, please don't rush the dear snakes. Don't crowd the snakes by cramming in too many of you around one snake. Please proceed in an orderly fashion." Then, the nestsnakes began entering the hollow to serve as tables while owls crowded around them to eat. For me, I went to my assigned snake, Matilda. And as usual as soon as I went to her, she would immediately start to shiver and the other snakes closest to her seemed to move slightly further away. Smiling, my mind drifted again to when this occurred for the first time...

Back then, when I arrived at the dining hollow for the first time, I went to a snake for some food, but everytime I did the snakes would either tried to avoid me or at least avoid 'looking' at me. Like they were scared of me. Boron and Barran naturally knew and came to investigate. When questioning the snakes, they said they did not know, just that something about me made them feel...uncomfortable.

Coming back again, as tweener started, the owls began to talk about the chaws and tapping and stuff that revolved about those two. From the corner of my eye, I saw the Band inviting Primrose to join them at Mrs P's. Knowing that they will be the time in the Kuneer desert, I began eating. Ten minutes later, I heard Mrs P shouted "Enough is enough!" I turned my head towards the commotion, so did all the other owls and snakes in the room. "I shall not have this talk at this table. This is inappropriate on every level!" And she shook the teacups off her back and sent the poor owls to Matron. Knowing what would happen next, I giggled at the ashamed faces of the owls.

"What's so funny about that?" Matilda asked, slightly annoyed. "Oh nothing, just another joke I thought of," I replied. "But I'm sure we don't need another commotion like that, eh." With that, I finished eating and went up to my hollow to sleep.

* * *

_"You let us die, Martin."_

_I tried to run away from them, but my legs felt like lead and I fell. "Please, I tried to save all of you. I'm sorry."_

_We trusted you, why?" They pinned me down on all of my limbs, so tight that I couldn't move, even with my enhanced strength. For I didn't want to hurt them again, not for when I let them die during the Escape._

_Clomp! Clomp! His footsteps were getting louder with every step he took. I looked ahead and saw the dreaded Doctor walking towards us. Thump, thump! My heart beated wildly as I struggled to free myself, to get away from him. "Let me go! Let me go!"_

_"Go so soon, Martin? Why don't you stay with your friends? Why don't you stay...forever." With that, he plunged a modified taser onto my chest..._

"AAAAAhhhhhh!" I woke up, shaking all over. It was that nightmare again. The other three owls in my hollow only twisted in their sleep and slept on. I had that same nightmare six times for the past month and it had made them worried. However they couldn't do a thing since I strongly refused to tell anyone about them. So they could only offered sad looks whenever I woke up abruptly in the day. Right now they had gotten used to it and kept on sleeping.

For me, it's impossible to go back to sleep now. Still shaking from that nightmare, I stepped out of the hollow and took to the skies. Somehow, this was the only thing that could soothe my fear. Alighting on a branch, I looked up into the skies and closed my eyes, treasuring the feeling of the wind as it stroked my back.

"...I think it has to do with your sister, Eglantine." At this, I opened my eyes and looked up. I remembered now, this was when Soren was confessing all of his worries and fears to Mrs P, before the Night Flight. As I heard him continuing his ranting, my eyes began to become blurry. I tried to wipe away the tears that were threatening to fall, but I couldn't. Here I realized that I too had a desire to spill out all of my feelings, but to whom? Who could understand the pain, the loss and the darkness in my heart? Who could understand the sorrow I'd been through? And who would still comfort me and hug me for all the things I'd done back then?

Then Mrs P said, "...We can hope." _Hope_, the word bounced inside my mind. Hope, a word sounded so simple, yet it carried so much weight. _Hoole, _I thought,_ was I meant to hear this as well?_

"Hope is never a foolish thing," Mrs P continued. "Although others will tell you it I don't need to tell you that, Soren- look at yourself. You were snatched and you taught yourself to fly and you escaped from that awful St. Aggie's. you flew straight out of those deep stone canyons and right into the Yonder. Anyone who flies out of a stone hole into the Yonder knows about hope."

_Hope,_ I wondered sadly. _Will there ever be enough for me?_ I flew back to my hollow, where I waited for the day to end.

* * *

_Finally, it's over._ I mumbled as I flew to the library. Truthfully, Ga'Hoolology was really the most boring of all the chaws of the Great Tree. Some said it's because the teacher, or _ryb, _is Dewlap, one of the most boring owls that ever existed. Others thought that it's because all you need to do was to do bury your pellets at the roots of the Tree. Personally, I'll go with the former. I agreed that taking care of the Tree _was _important, but she _really_ didn't have to keep on reminding us about it. Sometimes I wished that I could just yarp a pellet and toss it right in her face...

_Enough,_ I thought when I reached the library. Looking around, I walked around the rows of shelves, wondering what book to read this time. "Try this one instead." A low gruff voice said as he pointed his mangled foot to one of the books in the stack beside him. Shrugging, I went over and took the book.

"Navigating through the stars, by Strix Emerilla." I read. Smilling, I turned to thank Ezylryb when I caught sight of his disfigured claw. I couldn't help it but continued to stare at it, completely oblivious to his piercing glare. As I stared at it, my mind again wandered back, to the time I read what happened to that claw. I remembered now; it was when he used to be called Lyze. At that time, his brother, Ifghar, had became a turnfeather to the Kielian League and joined the enemy. He led a team to ambush him and his team. However, the plan went wrong and Lil, Lyze's mate, was slain and Lyze went yeep. He was saved, however, when he was caught by his talons by an eagle, causing great pain. So he bit off the injured talon and flew away with Octavia, to find solitude and peace in the Glauxian Brothers. After that, with his vast knowledge, he came here to teach. Since then, he was known as Ezylryb.

Staring at the claw and knowing the truth, I realized that I was never scared of him in the first place. Instead, I pitied him, knowing that that was a reminder of his loss. "Ahem!" Jumping at the sudden noise, I blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Ezylryb. I didn't mean to...I just want to thank you for everything." Looking at him in the eye, I continued. "And thank you for saving me back then."

"Don't need to; it's what we do." The Whiskered Screech replied. Smiling, I walked away to take a spot across him. Yet, I didn't notice his yet another piercing glare, his eyes narrowed as he sensed something...suspicious in the apology. Opening the book, I began to read about the stars and constellations of the skies.

A few minutes later, I heard some noises and looked up. Seeing Soren and Gylfie holding a book, I realized that they were actually staring fearfully at the deformed claw pointing at a shelf. Smiling sadly, I went back to reading. Yet, I was distracted by that claw. Just like him, I had been "marked", a permanent scar. A past that I wanted to run away from...Shaking away those thoughts, I forced myself to continue reading, ignoring the lingering thoughts.

A few hours later, just a few minutes after Ezylryb left, I returned the finished book and went back to sleep, waiting for the Night Flight to come.

* * *

**3rd person POV**

"So, who's next?" Boron asked. It was in the middle of a session in the Parliament hollow and the owls were discussing which of the new owls were to be placed in which chaw. Obviously, the rybs of each chaw were in the sessions, like Ezylryb the ryb for Weather Interpretation, Strix Struma for Navigation and others.

"It's Soron, my dear." Barran replied. They had seen him in action (some had even talked to him) and now discussing where to put him in.

"I'll take him, Boron." A voice spoke up in midst of the noise. Everyone turned towards the speaker.

"I suggest we put him in both Coiliering and Weather Interpretation." Ezylryb spoke up again. Boron looked at him questioningly, like every other owl in the hollow. "This is the first time you had ever chose an owl without any discussion first, Ezylryb. Why did you pick him?"

Ezylryb gave a smile. A smile that said that he'd chosen him ever since he laid eyes on him, a smile that held many reasons. "He's a special kid, I know. I felt it in my gizzard!" He declared, and he added, the smile this time showed that he knew something that they didn't. "He had flown with an ember before."

"What?!" Everyone leapt up. He hadn't been taught in the ways of coals and embers yet, so how could he..."He has a mark on him." Ezylryb explained. "It was not very clear, but it was there. I can see it."

"Very well, Ezylryb. He will be double-chawed." Boron announced. Then, he asked for the next owl. It was Matthias. When the name was spoken, the Parliament immediately fell into an uncomfortable slience. Most of them looked around, hoping for someone to break it. The truth was, yes they had seen what the Boreal can do. He could fly extremely well, and there's even a rumor about him saving an owlet JUST when he was branching for the first time.. A very exaggerated rumor, indeed. Not only that, he could fight well. But only Strix Struma knew that he fought as if he had experience fighting. Fighting in a life-and-death situation, that is. But she didn't dare to say that out loud.

Then, Barran decided to give her input. "I vote that we put him in Search and Rescue." Every owl then looked at her. Emboldened by her idea, she continued. "I know you would say that due to his size, he wouldn't be capable of lifting most owls. But I tell you that the rumors of him saving an owlet was true." Most of them then gasped. _Impossible,_ they all thought. "Not only that, Boron and I had talked to him once and we know that he's a very mature owl for one so young. For that, I know that he is suited for Search and Rescue."

"Even so," This time, it was Ezylryb again. "There's something about him that needs...observing." "Then please do explain, Ezylryb." Boron inquired.

"Ever since he came to the Tree, I noticed something...strange about him. He may had done amazing things, but he's always alone. Even his hollow mates couldn't get close to him." The other owls were nodding at that statement. "Not only that, the snakes seemed to be avoiding him for some reasons. As if they were afraid of him." Then, he lowered his voice, forcing the rest of them to lean forward to catch his words. "Yet there are only two snakes who weren't trying to avoid him."

"Octavia and Mrs Pilthiver," Boron stated. "But we had also questioned them about it. They said that there was something...sad about him, but they didn't know anything about it."

"Not only that, Boron." Ezylryb seemed to be addressing his thoughts, but in truth he was thinking, gathering all he could to figure out what made the owl in question so...mysterious. "I met him in the library just now and something strange happened.

"What is it then?" All of them leaned further.

"When he picked up a book in my stack, he was not scared of my foot, not one bit." Then, Bubo guffawed. "Isn't that a good thing?" Suddenly, most of the owls in the room joined in and soon the air was filled with the churring of owls.

But only four owls did not laugh, for they all knew what it meant. "I suggest that we also double-chawed him as well." Ezylryb stated.

The laughing stopped and they turned to him again. "I thought we had decided to put him into Search-and-Rescue?" Bubo asked.

"Well, I am afraid that both the rescuer and rescuee would both plunge down to their death if he was to be put into that chaw." Ezylryb answered, offhandedly. Yet, the other three owls knew the real reason behind it.

"Alright," Boron interjected quickly before further discussion about this matter came up. "Who is the next owl?"

* * *

**A/N**

Finally, it was over. I thought I'd never get this over with.

Thanks, **Nashog**, for reviewing.

Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 4: Double-chawed

**Chapter 4: Double-chawed**

The Night Flight was always fun. There was never any special purpose to it. It really was mostly recreational. Boron liked to get all the newly arrived owls to gather with some of the other young owls in the blackness of the sky so they could, as he put it, "Buddy up, tell a few jokes, yarp a few pellets, and hoot at the moon." And all around me, that was what they were doing. Owls were talking to each other, laughing at jokes, chasing each other just for the fun of it and others. Even I had to be part of a few conversations, to say the least. Putting on a forced smile, me and a few other owls were laughing at a poop joke made by Boron and even made a few for our own. Personally, I was just laughing along since I didn't really know any of them. But when one of the owls asked which chaws we wished to be tapped into, I hesitated. Truthfully, I really didn't know which chaw I wanted and I really didn't want to talk about it.

Nearby, I caught a few snips between Primrose and Otulissa. This was what I heard: "Well, I don't especially like reading about weapons, but I find Madame Plonk coarse and unrefined," Otulissa replied, disgust was heard in her tone. "And they say she's got a touch of the magpie in her. Have you ever been to her apartments', as she calls them?"

"Oh, yes," Primrose answered, making a rapturous little low hoot. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Oh,yes, beautiful with other creatures'things- bits of crockery and teacups made out of something she calls porcelain." Otulissa said dismissively. "Now where would she get that stuff? Well, I think under all those snowy white feathers is a magpie in disguise- that's what I think. And frankly, I find the apartment vulgar- rather like its occupant."

_Wow, obnoxious much! _In contrast to what Otulissa said, Madame Plonk was actually a very nice owl. Yes, it's true that she also collected many 'Others' things like dainty cups and saucers, but seriously, she didn't have to paint her as one of those rich ladies and snobs you see in movies in old European times, when all they did was being vain and going to silly tea parties, something like that. Though I was once human, still, thinking of that makes me want to yarp a pellet. Yuck!

"When did you come here, Otulissa?" I turned around at the question and saw her hesitating before answering. At the back of my head, I already knew how she came here. But the difference between knowing it before-hand and hearing it straight from the mouth was that the latter had more...impact. As I heard the tale being told from Otulissa's beak, I couldn't stop the tear that was threatening to flow out of my eyes. Though as hard as she tried to hide any of her feelings, I could detect a hint of sorrow in her words. "I'm an orphan like you." She ended her tale after another hesitation, though I noticed she was letting a little bit of emotion through this time.I turned my head away, hoping that no one noticed me eavesdropping. I pitied her, just as I pitied Ezylryb and the Band. _Why does fate have to pull apart families and turn children into orphans, just for its amusement? It's isn't fair_. _Why does fate have to mess with us so badly? Why?_ Another tear leaked out out of my eye and I blinked it away. In front, Boron clacked his beak loudly, announcing that Night Flight was finished just as Strix Struma winged her way here to take over for navigation.

* * *

An unnatural silence filled the dining hollow as we returned at Deep Gray for teatime. And it was unnerving as well, since we all were wondering which chaw would we be placed into. The snakes seemed to be moving unbearably slow and begun serving tea, yet no one really wanted tea. No, what they wanted were to head back to their hollows and rip the beddings to find out which chaw had they been posted into.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get some nootie cakes? There are plenty left." Matilda asked, sensing my nervousness. "Erm...no thanks, Matilda. Really, I'm not hungry." Finally, the sun was starting to rise from the horizon, which meant it was time for us to go to sleep. My three hollow-mates and I went back to our hollow and to our nests. The first chords from the great harp were plucked and Madame Plonk began to sing her song. My hollow-mates took off the bedding and saw what was on their bedding down.

"This iron tree is beautiful-great Glaux, I did get Metals!" One of them, a Long-Eared named Joseph exclaimed.

"Ten nooties! I got Navigation, thank Glaux!" This time was a Spotted by the name of Lilica.

"And I'm in Search and Rescue, hooray!" Baron, the Snowy whom I saved proudly showed us a molted feather.

I smiled at their excited grins, knowing that they had gotten what they had always wanted. They hugged before they realized they were missing one member. They turned to me and realized that I hadn't even took off the downy fluff on my bed yet. "Come on, what are you waiting for? I can't wait to see which chaw will you be put into!" Baron urged me to go on, unable to contain his excitement.

Smiling at their excited smiles, I lifted the down that covered my nest and there laid a lump of coal, beside it was a dried caterpillar. "Weather Interpretation and Coiliering Chaw?!" Joseph exclaimed, not noticing my stunned look. "Wow, Ezylryb must really like you." Hearing that, I immediately had a bit of doubt concerning that. Knowing him, that's definitely not it. But what was the reason then?

Pushing away those thoughts, I immediately turned towards my hollow-mates. "Come on, it's time to sleep. And I'm sure that you all want to wake up early for your first night in your new chaws!" Putting aside the coal and ate the caterpillar, I laid down on my nest and fell asleep.

* * *

"One-two-one-two. That's it, Ruby. Tuck the beak...One-two-one-two..." Elvan, the Coiliering ryb paced. This was during the second training session and we were training by marching with a coal in our beaks. I was positioned behind Soren, so I saw him distracted by his thoughts and nearly ran into Otulissa. Elvan barked at him to pay attention next time and finally allowed us to drop the coals and rest.

Yet, rest didn't come easy as the ryb lectured us during the break. "Tomorrow, you shall begin flying with the coals in your beaks. It is not that different, really, from walking. Although you must take care to keep your coal alive and burning."

"Yeah!" Bubo boomed. "Dead coals ain't going to do me a bit of good, young'uns. No sense flying in here with a great lot of ashes, cold as Glaux know what."

"Yes," continued Elvan. "We don't want to disappoint Bubo."

"Oh, Glaux forbid that we should disappoint Bubo." Otulissa mumbled.

I stole a glance at her, annoyed at her snappy attitude. _Lady, just get over it already, will you?!_ Elvan continued speaking during our break. "And then, of course, after you have had enough nights of weather training we shall find a nice forest fire for you- nothing too big, mind you. Just a nice little beginning fire with a good mix of trees- Ga'Hooles, firs, pine, some soft and hard woods. Not too many ridges or mountains to complicate wind patterns."

"Pardon me." I turned towards a little Northern Saw-whet Owl. If I remember correctly, his name would be Martin, who was saved on the same night as Primrose. "Yes, Martin," Elvan said.

"Well, I don't understand why we need new coals all the time. Once you start a fire going, wouldn't there always be new coals?" Martin asked.

Elvan turned to Bubo. "Bubo, as chief smith, would you care to answer that?"

"Sure thing, mate." Then he stepped up to Martin and, towering over him, began to speak. "A very good question. You are right, it is very possible to keep fires going forever and that is fine for some things- things like cooking and warming up a hollow. But for certain tasks, especially certain metalwork in the forge, we need new fresh coals that have been born of sparking trees full of sap. They become the blood of our hottest fires. Then again, we need a variety of coals. Certain coals from certain trees last longer. That's how a fire gets bonk."

"What's bonk?" asked Martin.

"Ah, it's as old smithy term. Hard to explain unless you've been working with the fires for some time. Then you know when you got a bonking good fire going in your forge. You know you got to look for the blue in the flame and then, this is the hardest, a tinge of green around the blue." I blinked. I never thought that there would be a way to categorize coals and fires.

However, just as Bubo finished his explanation, Elvan immediately said that rest time was over and ordered us to begin marching without our coals to establish the rhythm. I mostly tuned out the conversation between Otulissa and Ruby, but I couldn't help but hear the contentment and joy in Ruby's words. It's very rare for an owl to actually _enjoy _going into a hurricane before even _going_into one. Yet Ruby was a tough little Short- Eared owl. I heard that she was flying before her primaries were fledged. When she was found exhausted by one of few trees in the grassland, she was shivering with fright and muttering about not being found by them. My guess would be the St Aggie's owls, since they were one of the two main enemies for now and were not picky like the other one, the Pure Ones. "Those bastard, kidnapping owlets and brainwashing them for their evil purposes!" I silently scowled.

Finally, chaw practice was over. I was about to fly back for teatime when I saw Soren following Bubo to his forge. Knowing that they were going to have a talk there, I followed the rest to the dining hollow. After that, I made my usual flight around the tree. I landed on a branch, closing my eyes as I savored the feeling of the day warming my back. "Be all you can be..." I opened my eyes and looked down to where I heard the murmur was coming from. "What does it mean?" I muttered as I flew closer and saw Soren at the hollow opening, staring at the floor in confusion due to Bubo's conversation with him. Then, from inside the hollow, a slightly raspy voice spoke out. "Soren, are you all right?" Soren looked up and saw Digger waking up.

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm just worried about you. I mean, you've been so quiet since the tapping, and you didn't come to tea and all."

Soren looked away, not wanting to face Digger. "Well, don't worry, Digger, it's not your problem."

"But it is." Digger calmly stated.

"No, it's not, Digger." Soren insisted, turning around to face him again. "You worry too much. You just need to worry about yourself. Not me. That's not your job."

"It's not a job, Soren," Digger replied, this time with a slight edge in his tone. "It's what I am."

"Now what do you mean by that" I leaned closer, also wondering about what he meant by that.

"Well, you might think I'm only a Burrowing Owl, you know, perfect for tracking with my long strong legs, but I am more than just this bunch of feathers and bare legs. I can't explain it. I just feel things. And right now I am feeling very sorry, very bad for you."

There was silence for a long time as I saw Soren staring into blank space, confusion was on his face as he was gathering his thought. Once more, Digger broke the silence. "Soren,what do you think it means to be an owl?"

Soren's head whipped up at the sudden mention of his name. He stared at Digger, confused at the question. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not sure what you mean." I also peeked at him, wondering what he meant by that as well.

"I'm not sure, either." Digger said. "But it's just as if it is so easy to describe us. You know, there are so many things that we have that are different from other birds, but do you really think that is the meaning of being an owl? Just because our heads can spin nearly all the way around, that we can see what other birds cannot at night, that we fly slow and silent- is it just these differences that make us owls?"

"Digger, why do you ask these questions? They are impossible to answer." Soren asked, wondering where did all these were going to.

"Maybe that's why I asked them- because they are impossible to answer." Digger shrugged, answering sincerely. "It's kind of exciting. It means that there can be unexpected truths and meanings to why we are what we are. You see- that is why I know I am much more than strong legs and weak wings. And you are too, Soren- you are more than your lovely white face and your sharp ears that can hear anything and your strange black eyes."

I knew I wouldn't get anymore from this, so I let myself fall for a short distance before flying back to my hollow. Looking out to see the sun reflecting on the sea, pondering on what Digger had just said. _Could there really be more to me that just what I am right now, Hoole? Even when I don't know who I am anymore? Please tell me... my King, who am I? _I pleaded silently, just as I went to sleep, tears flowing from my eyes once more.

* * *

What really woke me up was the gale before the dusk. Some small pieces of ice slapped me in the face, waking me up with its sudden coldness."Wha...what happened?" I exclaimed, standing so quickly that I wobbled dizzily out of my nest. "Uugh, headrush!" I muttered, rubbing my head. The other three owls woke up in a similar manner, the frightening drop in temperature and the shock to see the beautiful day ended in a frenzy of strong winds was enough to send a shiver down our spines. We huddled together, trying to keep warm. "Come on, let's get to the dining hollow quick, before we all freeze here!" I ordered.

"Now?! In this gale?! That is a..." Lilica began when a gust of wind blew into the hollow. "A...a great idea! Let's go!" She finished quickly. "I really hope that they will serve something warm there." Soon, we all took off from our hollows and landed safely into the dining hollow. As usual I was heading to Matilda's when someone called me. "Come here, bucko. You are eating here as well. " Turning around, I spotted Ezylryb waving a wing over to his table, when he spotted another and called out. "Over here, boy. Weather chaw eats it raw with the hair on. I swirled my head and saw Soren coming over as well.

Just then, Otulissa appeared by our side. "You mean you haven't heard?" Great, now she mentioned it, this was supposed to be our first lesson in flying through a storm.

"Heard what?" Soren said, not sure if he really wanted to know.

"We're having our first interpretation chaw tonight."

Soren looked at her like she was yoicks. "You have to be kidding, Otulissa. We aren't going out in this gale."

"Oh, but we are," she said. "And I think it's outrageous. I'm going to have a word with Strix Struma. I'll go right up to Barran if I have to. This is reckless. This is endangering our lives."

"Oh, hush up, dearie. Sit down and eat your mouse- and all the hair, mind you, and that goes for every one of you." the fat old blind snake serving as the table said. Her name was Octavia, and she had served as the weather chaw table for years. Unlike the other blind snakes whose scales were colours varying from rose to pink to a deep coral, Octavia was a pale greenish-blue. I sat beside one of the owls at the table when I noticed that there was more room than expected and as I looked about, I realized that all of the young owls at the table had diminished in size. Their feathers were pushed in tightly, showing that they were nervous about their first weather flight. When an owl is relaxed, his plumage is loose and relaxed. When angered, owls can puff up their feathers until they appear much larger than before. But right now, it was as if we had all become slim all of a sudden. The tension hovered in the air.

Ezylryb fixed the young owls in the amber light of his squinted eyes. "Eat up, maties... every single little hair. You've forgotten what raw meat tastes like with the fur, as you call it. Poot here is my first mate. He'll tell you what it's like to fly with no ballast in your gizzard."

_Poot? Now that's a weird name. Not only that, I think I'll be too grossed out to eat anything that is raw and have fur on it. Uugh!_ Poot, another Boreal like me, stepped up and spoke. "I remember that time before I had acquired the taste for hair and thought I could go through that hurricane. Last time I ever tried that. Nearly got caught in the rim of the eye, I did. Now, you don't want to do that, young'uns."

"What happens if you get caught in the rim of the eye of a hurricane?" asked Ruby.

"Oh, you spin around till you're dead. Just around and around and around. Awful nasty way to go. Usually get your wings torn off in the process." said Poot.

"Now, don't go scaring them, Poot," Octavia said and gave a ripple so that all our plates clattered a bit. "And please, young'uns, don't try that trick of slipping the fur under the table. Remember, I _am _the table and it itches something fierce." I winced, hoping that I'll never cross her bad side again.

* * *

It was not even dark yet, but the weather chaw owls were already on the takeoff limb. It was all we could do to hang on as the gale lashed about them and the limb bucked on the turbulent wind. Shards of ice flew through the air. "We take off upwind, naturally." Ezylryb spoke in short snappish sentences. "We're going to fly straight out over the Sea of Hoolemere."

"Now listen up. Here's what you need to know about a gale, or any storm, really- except for hurricanes- they be a little different with their eyes and all. But what you got in a gale, or storm, is you got your gutter. That's what we call the main trough where the wind runs its punch through. It's at the center. It not be like the eye in a hurricane. Not nearly so dangerous. Then on either side of the gutter you've got the scuppers. That's where the edge of the winds from the gutters spills over. Then at the very outside edge of the scuppers you got the swillages- more about them later. I fly point. Poot flies what we call upwind scupper. You just follow behind. Do what you're told. Any question?"

Otulissa raised her talon. "Ezylryb, sir, with all due respect, I have to say that I am surprised that we are going out before it is completely dark. Isn't there a very real danger that in this light we could be mobbed by crows?"

Ezylryb began to laugh and then said, "With all due respect, Otulissa, no one else is yoicks enough to be out on a day like this!"

I laughed as well. I couldn't help it. I mean, I was scared that I might get ripped to shreds in this gale, but I was still laughing at that thought. If anyone asked me whether I could get scared while laughing at the thought of my death, I would call him yoicks. But still...

Ezylryb then took off and flew towards the storm with Poot at his position. Martin, the Saw-whet owl, was instructed to fly in his wake for better control since he was the smallest. I was ordered to fly beside Martin, near Poot, so that I might be able to have some help as well. Even so, that was of little help. It was extremely difficult to fly while being buffered around by the confusing drafts. Because of that, I had difficulty concentrating on maintaining my flight path. And that's not the only problem. There was also the ice and rain to deal with. We had to constantly use our transparent eyelid, the third eyelid that all owls have, to clear the debris collected on our eyes.

Irritating as it is, still there was an upside to this. While we were flying, there were some seagulls who were flying with us. So on the way, Ezylryb and the seagulls were laughing and exchanging poop jokes. In spite of the situation, we too laughed along as well. Even Poot was caught sniggering at some of them. All in all, it wasn't so bad after all.

"Oh, for Glaux's sake," I turned my head around and saw Otulissa talking with Soren. "What now?" Soren asked, exasperatedly. From his expression, I could tell that she must really be annoying to him if he wanted to get away from Otulissa that badly.

"He is speaking with seagulls!" Otulissa exclaimed.

"So?" Soren asked once more. He didn't see what's wrong with the ryb talking to seagulls.

"So? How can you say 'so', Soren? I know you come from a very fine family. I can see that you have been well brought up. You must know that seagulls are the absolute worst kind of bird. They are, pardon the coarseness of my language, the scum of the avian world. Trashy, loud. You want nothing to do with them. And look, there he is talking- laughing with them." I turned away, pulling a face. _Man, could she ever give it a rest already? Why can't she just lighten up a little? They are not as bad as she thinks, you know._

"Maybe he's getting weather information from them?" Soren said.

"Oh, now that's a thought," She was silent for a while, thinking about that possibility. "I think I'll fly up and ask him."

"Don't bother him, Otulissa."

"No, you heard him say if we had any question we should ask." And without another word, the Spotted Owl flew right up beside us. "Pardon me, Ezylryb. I am most curious to know why you were- how should I put it- consorting with seagulls? I thought perhaps it was to gain weather information."_  
_

"Seagulls? Oh, no, darlin'. They are the dumbest birds on earth and the laziest."

"Well, then why would you even consort with them?"

"I wasn't consorting. I was telling dirty jokes."

"What?" I smirked. Sometimes I think she's too smart that she became too narrow-minded for own good. She _really needs to loosen up a little._

"Yes, they love wet poop jokes even though they are the wettest of all poopers. 'Oh, tell us another one Ezyl,' they always say! And, I must admit, I get a few from them. But the blasted birds are so dumb, half the time they can't remember the punch lines. Very frustrating."

"Well, I never!"

Here, Martin decided to give his own comment. "The jokes were really funny, Otulissa," he piped up. Beside him, I nodded along, grinning as well.

"Now, don't go getting your feathers in a twist, darlin'. You just mind your business. Get back into position. We're getting near the gutter now. And this is when the fun begins." Otulissa then flew back to her position, disgusted. I could almost hear her muttered some unpleasant words on the way there.

"Hoooh- hah!" Poot let out an enormous, raucous hoot. "Here we go, mates. Climbing the baggywrinkles and then straight into the gutter. Follow us!" The baggywrinkles were the shredded air currents that lay between the scuppers and the gutter. A power thrust was required to get over them. Quickly, I flew beside Ruby, following the Weather Interpretation Ryb over the currents. When we finally climbed over it, I let out a small gasp just as Ruby let out a joyous hoot. Now I know why. Right at the center of the gale, in the gutter, the winds all seemed to flow like a great turbulent river. I too gave a joyous hoot and immediately flew into the 'river', mimicking what Ruby was doing. Sweeping my wings slightly forward and angling my tail, I felt the wind brushing through my feathers, as if they were smoothing them. Oh,what a joyful sensation was that! No wonder Ezylryb and Poot was looking forward, this was one of the best things I'd ever felt.

"Oh, tickle me hollow bones. Ain't this the life?" I heard Ezylryb said to Soren and Otulissa."Now follow me to the edge of the scuppers, maties, and I'll show you the hurly-burly. And then we'll climb the baggywrinkles and dump right into the scuppers for the ride of your life." Then he flew ahead, with Ruby right behind him and Soren after that. Grinning, I gave a joyous hoot as loud as I could and chased after them. I couldn't explain what I was feeling at that moment, but my gizzard was burning with exhilaration. _Now this is REAL flying._ "Woohoo!" I laughed.

"Here we go!" cried Ezylryb. "Now I want to see you punch the wind and then we pop the scuppers and it's tail over talons."

"Oh, my heavens!" I heard Otulissa shriek and Soren gasp. Then I saw his distinctive three-taloned foot seemingly scratched the surface of the moon as he flipped over his side and flew on his back before flying right side up and into the scuppers. Ruby quickly joined him as she mimicked him and did a tail-over-talons somersault, popping the scuppers. "Oh, come on!" she cried. "There's nothing to it."

"Be right there!" I cried as I executed the same move and was soon by their side, laughing rapturously at the same time. _What fun! _"Nothing to it!..." Otulissa gasped but I couldn't hear the rest over the roar of the gale, what a relief! And then Soren decided to come over as well. Just as what Ezylryb instructed, he punched the wind and in a flash, he was arching up towards the sky that spun with dark clouds and was splattered with sheets of icy rain. Then he was right side up in the scuppers next to us, grinning foolishly like the rest of us. "Push forward a bit with your talons and keep angling your tail. It gives you a lot of control and you can ride the waves." Ezylryb called back.

Otulissa finally joined us, sputtering something about making a report about this 'outrageous activity' or something along that line. _Why, oh why in the world can't she just _ever_ shut up and just fly?_

"Oh, shut your beak!" Poot screeched at her. We skidded and spun, dancing in the gale while doing the hurly-burly. Ezylryb began to squawk a raucous ditty into the teeth of the gale.

_We are the owls of the weather chaw._

_We take it blistering._

_We take it all._

_Rolling boiling gusts,_

_We're the owls with the guts._

_For blizzards our gizzards_

_Do tremble with joy._

_An ice storm, a gale, how we love blinding hail._

_We fly forward and backward,_

_Upside down and flat._

_Do we flinch? Do we wail?_

_Do we skitter or scutter?_

_No, we yarp one more pellet_

_And fly straight for the gutter!_

_Do we screech? Do we scream?_

_Do we gurgle? Take a pause?_

_Not on your life!_

_For we are the best_

_Of the best of the chaws!_

* * *

**A/N:**

Finally, one more chapter down! Those of you who had noticed the large amount of text copied from the original series, please take note that this story was supposed to be from my OC's point of view. The story is based on the fact that he was one of the background characters that isn't mentioned in the series. Not only that, the prophecy states he is supposed to witness the events happening. Hope this clears out a few things. Oh, I also intentionally missed out a chapter here. Just as I have decided to miss out some other chapters in the future for some 'reasons'.

Thanks for reading.


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